Head coach Charlie Strong believes that the Texas Longhorns will look like a different team this season and one of the players who will make that a reality is freshman offensive lineman Patrick Hudson, the 6’5, 325-pounder who formerly signed with the Baylor Bears.
On Saturday evening, Hudson was one of the players in attendance at the Under the Lights camp, providing the first look at him since he arrived on campus several weeks ago:
Patrick Hudson and Devin Duvernay at Under The Lights last night pic.twitter.com/cnAGxtQitI
— Max Olson (@max_olson) July 24, 2016
For someone who weighs 325 pounds, Hudson certainly doesn’t look like it — that’s how NFL offensive linemen are supposed to look.
There are some really impressive physical specimens in the 2016 class. Patrick Hudson looks like a million bucks.
— Daniel Seahorn (@CoachSeahorn) July 24, 2016
The second-place finisher in the Texas High School Powerlifting Association Championships Division 2 Super Heavyweight class in 2015 has also been impressing in the weight room, which is hardly a surprise, but heartening nonetheless.
"(Patrick) Hudson is a freak" - source from the weight room
— Super K (@SuperK_TFB) July 14, 2016
To add to my previous tweet weight room source said, Hudson benched "410 lbs ten time with ease".
— Super K (@SuperK_TFB) July 14, 2016
There was some skepticism on Twitter about whether that number was really accurate, but Hudson did bench press 425 pounds at the state meet more than two years, so it seems plausible.
In other words, the Silsbee product already one of the strongest players on the team after being in Austin since July 9 and that is probably one of the reasons why Texas head coach Charlie Strong has such high expectations for him.
Charlie Strong thinks OL signee Patrick Hudson could be as good, if not better, than freshmen All-Americans Connor Williams and Patrick Vahe
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) July 20, 2016
Considering that Williams is considered a franchise left tackle and Vahe was a freshman All-American last season, that’s quite a statement from Strong.
And so far, everything backs up that sentiment about the nation’s No. 2 offensive guard.